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BGU Establishes Agricultural Research Institute in India

BGU Establishes Agricultural Research Institute in India

November 11, 2020

Desert & Water Research

BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz and Vice President for Global Engagement Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel sign the agreement during a virtual ceremony.

The Algemeiner — In a virtual ceremony held this week, Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and India’s offshore drilling company ABAN launched a project to establish an agricultural research institute in Chennai.

BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz remarked, “As part of the international research community, it is our obligation to share our scientific knowledge for the benefit of all of the world’s citizens.

“We have been deepening our knowledge and researching myriad aspects of desert agriculture up close for more than 50 years. We are proud to be leading global research in these fields and therefore it is natural for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to direct the academic establishment of an agriculture institute in India.

“The institute will assist in developing appropriate solutions to the agriculture of India,” Prof. Chamovitz continues. “In addition, the students will benefit from studies at BGU at our Sde Boker Campus, and then carry out relevant research in the new Institute under the mentorship of BGU scientists.”

Prof. Noam Weisbrod

Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research  Director Prof. Noam Weisbrod notes, “Through this partnership with ABAN, we are looking forward to being able to offer the vast knowledge and experience we develop here to students in India in general and Tamil Nadu [the province where Chennai is located] in particular, so that they will be able to have an impact in their home country.

“This new generation of local scholars will receive the tools to tackle some of the most pressing concerns of the modern world: the need for an efficient and modern agriculture to optimize and improve food production, and the methods and technologies to increase and improve water availability and quality, all while keeping in mind the environmental concerns,” said Prof. Weisbrod.

“I am delighted that despite the challenges set by COVID-19 we were able to move forward with this important project, reinforcing BGU’s mission of combating desertification and exploring global challenges by bringing together water, food, energy, and environmental research,” said BGU’s Vice President for Global Engagement Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel.

Read more in The Algemeiner >>